The “A” In STEWARD
We're on to the fifth letter in our STEWARD series: A.
I am an anointed answer, actively abiding, ambitiously advancing His Kingdom.
Anointed Answer
If there's anything I know about God, it's that He's got answers and provision before you even have questions or needs. What seems like coincidence never is. God had that person in the right place, or that provision arriving at the right time, prepared before the foundations of the world.
And guess what? YOU are the anointed answer to a lot of people's prayers.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: there are things you are meant to do, and if you don't do them, God won't leave that person in need hanging. He'll use someone else to get it done. But you'll miss out on the amazing experience of being a blessing to someone else.
Don't tell me you aren't good enough, or that God hasn't given you the talent or the means. Today, right now, you can be the answer someone has been waiting for. It might be as simple as a smile.
I'll never forget one night when I was picking up books from the library. I told the woman checking me out that the way she had her hair looked cute. She always wore it down, but that day she had it up. Her eyes instantly filled with tears, threatening to spill down her cheeks.
Whatever she was going through in that moment, a simple compliment on her hair made her feel like she wasn't alone or invisible. Honestly, she treated me like I was her best friend after that. I thought I was just being nice. To her, it was a lifeline.
I had no idea, but that was something God assigned to me that cold, dark, January night. I also had no idea that a tiny compliment would mean so much to someone whose name I only knew because of a name tag.
Where are you supposed to be an anointed answer to someone's prayer this week? Ask God where you can be a blessing today.
Actively Abiding
We cannot be passive Christians. We have to actively cling to the vine, Jesus.
Most of us are familiar with this passage in John 15:4-7:
"Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
I don't know about you, but I do not want to be thrown away, and I certainly don't want to wither!!
If we don't keep getting filled with the Word and refreshed and protected in prayer, we wither. We have to actively make time for that. Satan will do everything he can to thwart our efforts.
No matter your season, what non-negotiable spiritual refueling can you commit to? It doesn't have to be hours long. It just has to be meaningful.
Ambitiously Advancing
Matthew 16:18: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
Evil does not prevail over us. WE prevail over evil.
Notice it says gates. Gates don't move. Only people do. Like I've said before, we have to take back territory. We have to advance against the gates.
And when I say ambitiously, I mean it in a God-glorifying way, not a self-glorifying one. The concept of ambition is actually used positively in Scripture many times, though it's often translated as "goal" or "aspiration."
2 Corinthians 5:9 is one example: "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it."
Ask God how He wants to ambitiously advance His Kingdom through you right now. It's probably way simpler than you think. He puts people in front of you all the time.
So here are my questions for you this week:
Who has God already put in front of you, that you've been too busy or too distracted to notice you're the answer for? What non-negotiable time with Him will you protect so you don't wither? And where is He nudging you to advance, not for your name, but for His?
You don't have to have it all figured out today. Just be available for the next person He puts in front of you.
LORD,
Make me an anointed answer to the people You've already assigned to me. Help me notice them and be obedient when You call me to serve. Keep me abiding in You so I don't wither, and give me the discipline to protect that time no matter what season I'm in. Give me holy ambition, not for my name, but for Yours, and put people in front of me I wouldn't have noticed on my own. In Jesus' name, Amen.
In passionate purpose,
Dorothy